Ekaterinburg, the largest city in the region, is the region's capital and administrative centre

Ekaterinburg lies 1,667 km away from Moscow

The city is an industrial, mining, transportation and cultural centre located between the continents of Europe and Asia. Throughout its rich history, the region has been a major Russian focal point of science and culture, industry and infrastructure, and a leading producer of mineral resources. Ekaterinburg is the main infrastructural and economic hub in the region, and a significant interregional centre for the social development of Eurasia.

Ekaterinburg is located at the junction of major transportation arteries connecting Asia and Europe. Throughout its rich history, this region has been a major focal point of science, industry and infrastructure in the country. It is an industrial powerhouse with a unique concentration of manufacturing and processing facilities. The region is home to highly successful engineering, mining, metallurgical, chemical and petrochemical enterprises. At the same time, the scientific potential of the region exponentially every year, and the region's educational environment is developing at full speed. Thanks to all these fundamental factors, the region's products are well known far beyond the Russian borders.

Blessed by a unique geographical location, the region and Ekaterinburg are becoming increasingly open to the global community in areas such as tourism, culture and sports. With each passing year, the city is becoming more and more attractive to foreign investors.

The region is located in the Ural Federal District in the middle and northern parts of the Urals, and partly on the West Siberian plain east of the Ural Mountains. Ekaterinburg's unique geopolitical location and its rich ferrous and non-ferrous metal resources boost the rapid development of the region's mining and metal industry and consequently its science, culture and tourism.

Metallurgy is the pivot of the region's economy. Its metallurgical plants account for a considerable share of all metal products manufactured in Russia and provide raw metal for many European and global manufacturers.

While the region's international business infrastructure is expanding, the city and the region itself have a remarkably diversified economic structure and high economic growth rates, allowing it to be actively involved in international trade.

Over the past 20 years, the region has established mutually profitable economic relations with 149 countries across the globe.

These trends open up new opportunities for further development of Ekaterinburg's international cooperation and foreign investments, and strengthening its strategic geopolitical role as a hub for international trade, scientific research, transport, finance and logistics, linking two leading international trade and economic zones: Europe and Asia-Pacific.

The region's nature fascinates tourists from across the world More than 15,500 rivers and 2,500 lakes enrich the landscape of the Middle Ural Mountains. The largest rivers, the Tavda, Tura, and Iset, flow into the basin of river Ob. One of the most beautiful rivers in the entire Ural Mountains, the Chusovaya, is part of the Kama river basin.

The Urals' Rezhevskoy gemstone reserve has a history of over 300 years. There are about 500 nature monuments in the region. Talkov Kamen is a uniquely beautiful lake in an abandoned talc quarry not far from the city of Sysert. The Russian storyteller Pavel Bazhov used to come here often. He admired the steep white rocks mirroring in the crystal clear green waters of the lake. And who knows: maybe it was here that the ideas for his famous stories and fairy-tales occurred to him?

The stunning landscapes of the Middle Urals, a diverse wildlife combined with a developed transportation and communications network create the conditions necessary to developing world-class ecological, hunting, fishing and experimental tourism.

According to expert estimates by the regional Ministry of Natural Resources, over 500,000 tourists visit the region's natural sanctuaries and protected areas every year.

The city and the region attract tourists by the unique and comfortable climate, which encourages various types of tourism, particularly in the summertime, e.g. business events and meetings; adventure tourism and recreational tourism; ecotourism and experimental travel; agro tourism, hunting and fishing. The business travelling, recreational, medical and fashion tourism account for the biggest share of domestic tourism here.

On top of being a large transportation centre and a modern industry focal point, Ekaterinburg develops science and medicine. Indeed, the city is a leader in these fields: numerous local R&D organisations are at the cutting edge of Russian science, and the medical sector is famous for long-standing tradition of top-quality medical services.

The region and the city are a leading focal point in culture with over

1 500

monuments of nature, and historical, architectural, and archaeological monuments

15 500

rivers The largest rivers Tavda, Tura, and Iset flow to the basin of river Ob

2 500

lakes The area of the largest local lake Pelymski Tuman is 32.2 sq.km

The Ekaterinburg State Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre is critically acclaimed as the cultural heart of the Urals. It has hosted a lot of famous actors and received numerous prestigious awards. Our city is noted not only for its historical and cultural heritage, but also for many famous people hailing from it, including actors, artists and musicians.

On behalf of all citizens of the region, we will be delighted to invite you to Ekaterinburg, a candidate city to host the EXPO in 2025.